WIFM (What's in it for me) is an exclusive, quarterly, bilingual lifestyle magazine offering readers a balanced coverage of business, lifestyle and key happenings in Tokyo along with our own recommendations to explore new opportunities in this great city.

As the happiest and most
memorable day of any
couple’s life, a wedding
has to be just right. On this
day — with friends, family
and new in-laws looking on — it needs to be
perfect. And as most of us only do this once
(or perhaps twice …), then it is worth talking to
the experts to make sure that everything goes
to plan before the first note of the bridal march
is played.

Mr. J and Ms. Y
had a very clear idea of what they wanted,
combining the traditions of a Japanese
ceremony with the flexibility of a karate
demonstration during the reception.

“Ms. Y had been to a relative’s wedding
there when she was a child and the memory
of Meguro Gajoen stuck with her as the ideal
venue,” said Mr. J, 32, from Galway,
Ireland. “And also, because I had family coming
over from Ireland, I wanted to show them
something very Japanese. The banquet rooms
at Gajoen are very ornate and the atmosphere
was perfect.”

The bride and groom wore traditional
Japanese wedding attire before switching to a
white wedding dress and tuxedo, with their 60
guests decorating their cake with messages
while they were changing.

Mr. J said that the day “flew by in a
blur” — and admits that he was sufficiently
nervous that he forgot to mention his own
parents in his speech — but both he and his
new wife were delighted at the standard of
service and how smoothly the entire day went.

Something of an oasis in the middle of the
city, Meguro Gajoen incorporates modern
architecture and technology — most visible
in its huge atrium garden — as well as the
touches for which Japan is famous, according
to spokesman Kenji Shibata.

“I had family coming over from Ireland, I wanted to show them
something very Japanese. The banquet rooms at Gajoen are very
ornate and the atmosphere was perfect.”

The banquet facilities include 22 halls, all of
which are different in design and style, while
decoration throughout the venue — which
opened in 1931— includes carved reliefs,
mother-of-pearl inlays and other fantastic
works of art.

Japanese and international couples looking
to get married here are both driving a new-found
popularity for “Wa-kon” weddings, with “wa”
representing a broad sense of Japanese style,
from graceful, traditional clothing to Japanese
food, coordination of the event, ceremonies in
Shinto shrines or Buddhist temples, according
to officials of Happoen — a venue whose name
means “garden of eight views.”

The venue dates back to the Edo period
and, unsurprisingly, prides itself on the carefully
preserved hillside gardens that are interspersed
with historical buildings and water features.
Located in the fashionable Shirokanedai
district, it is particularly popular with wedding
parties during the cherry blossom season in
spring and in autumn, when the leaves of the
trees are flaming reds and golds.

Happoen holds chapel-style or Shinto
weddings, followed by receptions in the
sumptuous banquet halls, which make the most
of the surrounding 50,000m squared of gardens.

And for anyone not entirely sure of what they
want for their special day — but definitely want it to be memorable for everyone involved due
to the sheer quality of the event — then Full
Throttles are the people to speak to.

As the name suggests, the company is
dedicated to going all out to give the customer
exactly what they want, according to President
Koichi Imabayashi.

“At the moment, we’re focused on
restaurant weddings, which have a rather
down-market image,” he said. “But we’re
targeting the very top end of the market by
providing the most up-market restaurants
that serve up the best food in the best
environment.”

Top of the list are venues such as Nobu
Tokyo, La Rochelle, Ristorante Sabatini and
Ginza Raffinato, while formal dress can be
supplied by Pronovias Tokyo, Atelier Aimee or
Deux Endiro for her or Kirk Men’s Formal for
him. After-party locations range as far and wide
as ViVi la Verde Ebisu, Katsina, the Flamingo
Cafe or Oli.

“We really go all out to make sure the food
is of the very highest quality because time and
time again, when we ask people what the most
important thing at a wedding is they say the
meal,” said Imabayashi.

Full Throttles is also branching out to offer
weddings at some of the most exotic places on
the planet, including Mauritius, the Maldives and
Bali, working in cooperation with the renowned
Amanresorts and One&Only Resorts.

“For any couple, it’s the most important day
of their lives and it’s up to us to make it so,”
said Imabayashi. “And we pride ourselves on
making their dreams come true.”